Canadian oil pipeline would slice through eastern Nebraska

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By ALGIS J. LAUKAITIS/Lincoln Journal Star

A pipeline proposed to transport crude oil 1,840 miles from Canada to Illinois would cut across eastern Nebraska and come within 50 miles of Lincoln.

Part of the pipeline would be buried under the Platte River, according to an official of TransCanada, the company from Calgary, Alberta, planning the pipeline.

The Keystone Pipeline would carry about 435,000 barrels of crude oil per day from production wells near Alberta, Canada, to the ConocoPhillips Co., refinery in Wood River, Ill.

Plans for the $2.1 billion pipeline project were announced by TransCanada in February. Since then, company officials have been conducting community open houses in North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois. 

At the meetings, TransCanada officials discuss the need for the pipeline, environmental issues, pipeline design, public input and pipeline operations and safety, according to TransCanada’s Web site.

 Similar meetings are planned for communities  along the route in Nebraska and Kansas early next year, said Brian Peterson,  TransCanada’s manager for the Keystone project.

 Before the pipeline is built, TransCanada would need to obtain  easements from landowners along the route, Peterson said. The 30-inch diameter pipeline would be buried a minimum of four feet in the ground and would require easements 50 to 60 feet wide.

 The proposed pipeline would cross the Missouri River and enter Nebraska near Yankton, S.D., Peterson said. It would then continue south and run through the following eastern Nebraska counties: Cedar, Wayne, Stanton, Colfax, Butler, Seward, Saline and Jefferson.

Peterson said the Keystone pipeline would intersect another crude oil pipeline from Wyoming  and follow that pipeline, known as the Platte, east through Kansas, Missouri and into Illinois.

The Keystone pipeline would run east of  Norfolk and Columbus and about 50 miles west of  Lincoln, Peterson said.

Before it starts construction, TransCanada needs regulatory approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and state authorities along the route. The company wants to have the proposed pipeline operating by 2009.

 Laura Demman, director of the natural gas department for the Nebraska Public Service Commission, said her agency does not have regulatory authority over an interstate pipeline like the Keystone project.

“They don’t need approval from our agency,” she said.

Demman said the state Fire Marshal’s Office oversees pipeline safety, along with the U.S. Department of  Transportation.

Peterson said TransCanada wants to build the pipeline to transport millions of barrels of crude oil to markets in the United States. He said proven crude oil reserves in  Alberta total 179 billion barrels, second only to Saudi Arabia.

Peterson said reaction from people at the community meetings has been mostly positive.

 “People are quite interested in the  project and the benefits it will bring to local communities,” he said. “Most people are aware of the hurricane damage and the high prices of gasoline ... and the need for energy diversification.”

 Jennifer Varey, a spokesperson for TransCanada, said the company has been seeking binding commitments from shippers and potential customers.  She declined to discuss the commitments, citing confidentiality. Varey said the deadline for commitments from shippers is Dec. 1.

Earlier this month, TransCanada and ConocoPhillips signed a memorandum of understanding that commits ConocoPhillips to ship crude oil on the proposed pipeline.

The agreement also gives ConocoPhillips Pipe Line Co., a subsidiary of ConocoPhillips, the right to acquire up to 50 percent interest in the Keystone project.

  Reach Algis J. Laukaitis at 473-7243 or alaukaitis@journalstar.com.